The publication of a draft sequence of the genomic sequence of Neandertal in the May 7, 2010 issue of Science sets a new high-water mark in paleoanthropology coups for that journal, even after their breakout last year with the publication of the details of the skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus in its October 3, 2009, issue, pp.60-106.
What Is The Genome’s Most Striking Finding?
People of European and Asian ancestry share between 1%-4% of their DNA with Neandertals, but people of purely African ancestry apparently do not (Green, Krause, Briggs et al. 2010). It had been the predominant view prior to this that Neandertals and early modern humans did not mate. But if they did, it would have been expected that Africans as well as Eurasians would have Neandertal DNA.
Does This Mean That All Mankind Did Not Come Out Of Africa?
Not necessarily. It most likely means that that at some point, at least two groups of forerunners of modern man, who may well have come out of Africa, traveled to and settled within points in Europe and Asia. It appeared that at some point, for a period lasting several thousand years at the least, Africans stop migrating to Europe and Asia often enough to have mated with these now isolated Northern forerunners.
It may well have been that Africans were deterred by their better judgment, since Europe and Asia were undergoing repeated Ice Ages during this period, and the living conditions in Africa were likely superior.
In any case, there is no doubt that both Africans and the Northern migrants continued to evolve separately, despite isolation from one another.
One of these two isolated Eurasian groups consisted of the Neandertals, and the other Eurasian group was, for lack of a better understood term, the most widely recognized group of early modern humans, which we might call the Cro-Magnons. (Although Early Modern Human is the more encompassing and scientifically preferred term today).
The cited DNA analysis from the journal Science now shows beyond a reasonable doubt that Neandertals and Early Modern Humans did mate -----at least in the Middle East between Europe and Asia -----and have some viable offspring at some point and exchanged genetic material that remains in our modern DNA today.
The studies showing no Neandertal DNA in Africans used the DNA of the Shan and Yoruba tribes in Africa, groups which had never left the African continent, and not the DNA of other groups , particularly African-Americans, who have largely intermarried with Europeans and to some extent, Asians, and whose progeny therefore are the result of later intermarriages which may well show some Neandertal DNA as well.
Had Anyone Predicted This?
Forhan, Martiel and Blum (2008) cited below were one of the more recent groups that showed how it could be so, but a minority had been in favor of the idea all along. Arguably the best known of these is Erik Trinkhaus of Washington University in St. Louis, who has long argued from anatomical studies.
Why Did It Take So Long to Come to This Seemingly Decisive Determination?
While there was always some suspicion that Neandertals and Early Modern Humans had mated based on anatomical blends of the two types seen in some fossil finds that were suggestive of “hybrids, ” it was thought that a DNA analysis would provide the gold standard test. But this gold standard test was frustrated earlier by a number of confounding variables.
1. Could they find a sample or samples that were unambiguously Neandertal to everyone’s satisfaction. (They eventually did, in a cave that was by unanimous consensus, a purely Neandertal site that had not later been occupied by Early Modern Humans.)
2. Would they be able to screen out the two major contaminating sources of non-Neandertal DNA: microbes like bacteria, viruses and molds on or in the specimen, and then modern human DNA that somehow got into or onto the samples? (Yes, even most critics contend that extraordinary steps were taken….although even some of this team’s initial findings suggested that it was extremely problematic.)
3. Was there enough computing power and clever enough computer algorithms to do the sequence screening, sorting, and matching necessary for the task? (Yes, read the story by Pennisi cited below: Computer Kid Makes Good” for an excellent account of the group's bioinformatics leader. For technical details see Burbano, Hodges & Green et al 2010 cited below)
Is Widespread Acceptance of this Finding A Sure Thing?
In an excellent essay by John DeVose (2009) he notes, based on a study of several other paradigm shifts in the field, that on average, it takes a generation of paleonanthropologists (about 20 years of new Ph.D.s coming into the field and adding their weight to one side or another) to come to a new consensus, so we really have about that long before the next generation of researchers fully buy into this Neandertal genetic proposition, or not, before we can say it’s a done deal.
What Else Do We Know About Neandertals?
Superior Tool Makers
Neandertals were far better tool makers than was previously thought (See Moncel, Chacon, Coudenneau & Fernandes 2009) , and not only made better finished blades than many Modern Early Humans, but procured better raw materials from farther distances than expected (Bar-Yosef & Van Peer 2009). But like early modern humans, and modern humans today, it was obvious that most Neandertal tools were made for, and used by, right-handed individuals (See Uomini 2009).
But Not Good Clothing Designers
While it seems likely that Neandertals wore hides and furs as capes, it seems unlikely that they the sewed seams necessary to make close-fitting garments, owing to the scarcity of bone needles common among Early Modern Humans (See Sorenson 2009). (Neandertals did use awls, which would allow for fasteners of drape-like garments.)
They Nonetheless Accessorized
Pigments and seashell fragments typical of making bodily ornaments and body paints or make up have been found in Neandertal settings in Spain (See Zilhao et al 2010).
Great hunters
Analysis of cave animal remnants and isoptopic studies of Neandertal bone all concur: Neandertals were fearless and apparently socially well organized pack hunters of rather fiercesome predators: cave bears, and dire wolves and giant wild bulls (aurochs) and wooly mammoths and mastodons. It appears that they competed with giant hyenas for reindeer and deer. (See Richards, Taylor, Steele et al 2008, and Richards & Trinkhaus 2009 cited below).
And Maybe Fishermen
It appears that at least those Neandertals in Spain, and perhaps near Gibraltar, caught and ate fish , and harvested shellfish. They may also have hunted, killed and eaten seals if not whales (See Stringer, Finlayson, Barton et al 2008, and also Nowell & Horstwood 2009, but see also Klein & Steele 2008 which reflects a more conservative judgments).
And Even Bronco-Riders (& Maybe Cannibals)
Berger & Trinkhaus (1995) noted that Neandertal bobnes show an awful lot of healed fractures from which the Neandertals clearly lived to hunt another day. It has been suggested that Neandertals literally jumped upon or wrestled with their big game thereby incurring these fractures through violent struggle. (Today’s rodeo riders show remarkably similar patterns of broken and healed fractures on x-ray studies). Other Neanderthal bone remains show cut marks made by stone tools, suggestive of warfare and cannibalism, but there is also evidence that Neandertals buried their dead with herbs and flowers as well as with tools to be used in the after-life, suggesting that they had a reverential attitude towards the bodies of the dead…..although this does not necessarily preclude eating your in-laws or enemies for revenge.
They Used Fire for Cooking But Not for Forest Clearing for Agriculture
Comparison of Neanderthal and Early Modern Human sites shows that they seemed equal in their use of fire, and at least European populations of both hominids did not appear to use fire to clear out woodland for farming, as had been seen in some of the oldest Asian populations. Neandertals did, however, dry and/or smoke their meat ------ think of Neandertals as the founders of beef jerky. (Sorenson 2009).
They Lived in Heated Apartments
Some excavations showed that Neandertals lived in caves or constructed rock shelters with a compartmentalized pattern of sleeping spaces and heat sources so that there was a sequence of a fireplace every nine feet or so near each sleeping spot (Vallverdu, Vaquero, Caceres et al 2010).
There is a Good Deal of Debate on If & How Well Neandertals Spoke
There are two diametrically opposed views here: Krause, Laluenza-Fox, Orlando et al 9 2007) say that a key gene connected to the ability to speak distinctly FOXP2 was present in both Neandertal and Early Modern Humans while Coop, Bullaughey Luca & Przeworski ( 2008) say that such a result seemed more likely owing to contamination of the fossil DNA with modern human traces.
But They May Not Have Been Great Musical Instrumentalists
Despite good tool-making skills and with some support for the fact that they could speak (and presumably sing) well enough, only Early Modern Man seems to have a record of making musical instruments (Conrad, Malina & Muenzel 2009).
What Did Neandertals Look Like?
Short & Stocky
In terms of modern humans: They were shorter, squatter, stored more fat around their bellies, and had shorter, thicker arms and legs, had thick short necks and rather big heads (See DeLeon, Ponce, Golovanova et al 2008, and Weaver 2009).
Pale Skinned & Red Headed
In other words, they looked exactly like me, except that while I have the fair skin genetic analysis has determined was common among Neandertals, I do not have the red hair most often predicted (See Healy 2008).
With Modern (not Broad Flat) Noses Sticking Out
Both Neandertals and early modern humans began to have more prominent noses over time, largely because our brains needed more space within the skulls (Mladina, Skitarelic & Vukovic 2009). Nonethless, there were enough differences so that a trained paleonantropologist can pretty much quickly tell a Neandertal from an early modern human by their nasal cavity within the skull ( Schwartz, Tattersall & Teschler-Nicola 2008).
With Really Big Teeth In Front & Back
Neandertals had bigger, and faster growing teeth (Smith, Harvati, Olejniczak et al 2009) , but thinner enamel (Olejniczak, Smith, Feeney et al 2008). This may not have been a disadvantage given that thicker enamel is more necessary if one has a diet higher in grains and nuts which need more through grinding does meat (See Rivals, Moncel & Patou-Mathis 2009).
Not All Neandertals Lived in the Same Regions: They had Distinct Ethnicities
Neandertals had three well-established populations which which can be differentiated based on remains: the Western European, the Southern European and the Middle Eastern (see Fabre, Condemi & DeGioanni 2009). There is evidence over travels and intermarriage among them however. Given that they migrated at least partly with interregional marriage as an outcome, it should not be so unlikely that they mated with nearby Early Modern Humans.
Why Did Neanderthals Die Out?
The consensus opinion is that they simply were outnumbered by Early Modern Humans who were better at marshalling resources that added to one’s chances of surviving, particularly plant-source foods and possibly early agriculture. This reduced dependence on a hunting-only diet may have meant that Early Modern Humans could survive periodic scarcities of wild game better, and in doing so increase their numbers relative to Neandertal populations within the same regions within which both groups competed for resources (See Banks, D’Errico, Francesco et al 2008). There is a more recent, but not widely supported hypotheses that they may have died of the equivalent of “Mad Cow Disease” through their overdependence on animal diets, which may well have included inadvertently eating animals with transmissible encephalopathogies (See Riel-Salvatore 2008 & Underdown 2008).
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